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 Seventh
Moon (DVD – 2008)
R1 / NTSC DVD
Lionsgate / 2009
Directed by Eduardo Sánchez
Written by Jamie Nash, Eduardo Sánchez
Cast: Amy Smart, Tim Chiou, Dennis Chan
Review by Brian Harris
A newlywed couple visiting China for their honeymoon find
themselves set up by a small-town tour guide as the
sacrificial offering for his village’s Hungry Ghost
Festival. Instead of fighting their way through tourists
snapping pictures, the couple is forced to flee for their
lives when Chinese moon demons come for their live
offerings.
After the mega-success of The Blair Witch Project I remember
quite a few people proclaiming that Eduardo Sánchez was one
trick pony and he’d never go on to be a successful
filmmaker. While it’s certainly true that neither Sánchez
nor Myrick have gone on to see the same success that TBWP
received, they have indeed become filmmakers known for
solid, dependable horror cinema.
Eduardo Sánchez’s Seventh Moon is a nifty little
J-horror-inspired flick that successfully utilizes the
Hungry Ghost concept, offering viewers some thrilling
sequences involving eerie locations, occasional gore and
some visually stunning antagonists. I’ve seen the Hungry
Ghost thing before, though not done as well, in films such
as Kelvin Tong’s The Maid and Danny Draven’s Ghost Month
and, in my opinion, Seventh Moon is the best thus far. The
acting, especially from Smart, was quite good, the “ghost
white” moon demons were spooky as hell and Sánchez did a
bang-up job of weaving it all together into something alien
and distinctly Chinese, despite being an American film.
Outside of The Children, Seventh Moon is one of the best
Ghost House Underground films released. Admittedly the film
could have used some history on the seventh month and hungry
ghosts for those viewers not “in the know,” the moon demons
could have been explored more and the film could have used a
bit less vérité camerwork but it still manages to stand on
its own two feet.
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